Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 2/25/2011

2/25/1964:
Cassius Clay upsets Sonny Liston for the world heavyweight boxing title in Miami Beach. The fearsome Liston is a heavy favorite, but he fails to come out of his corner at the start of Round 7, claiming a shoulder injury. Some will doubt the severity of the injury and insist the fight was fixed. Tomorrow, on February 26, Clay will announce that he's changing his name to Muhammad Ali. And in his next fight, on May 26, 1965, he'll meet Liston again and knock him out in the first round.

Birthdays:
Bert Bell b. 1895
Bobby Riggs b. 1918
Monte Irvin b. 1919
Tony Lema b. 1934
Ron Santo b. 1940

Packers Fact:
When the Packers beat the Chiefs in Super Bowl I in the 1966 season, the game officially was called the AFL-NFL World Championship Game.

ON BUT OF COURSE!

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Family Fortunes Host: Something a blind man might use?

Contestant: A sword.

(thanks to Colin Griggs)

Ah, but a man’s reach
should exceed his grasp,
Or what’s a heaven for?

—ROBERT BROWNING, English poet

As roastmaster general of the Friars Club, the venerable comics’ society, Jeff Ross must be constantly on his toes, ready with at least eight insults at any time. Our favorite moment? When he describes instantly scanning any room he enters for things to insult: “Spoon, you’re just a [blank] fork!” Sorry, this combination memoir and how-to for roastmasters is not politically correct, but it’s so much fun! Ross is engaging and, because he follows the advice of mentors, especially his beloved Buddy Hackett’s, he’s never never truly mean.

I ONLY ROAST THE ONES I LOVE, by Jeffrey Ross (Simon Spotlight Entertainment, 2009)